The story of the All England is so important because it absolutely changed my life. This win gave me validation, but most importantly, it was the foundation for me to become a coach and help build an ecosystem. badminton at home.In fact, the preparation that helped me win the All England title was actually for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.Push boundaries with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!I live like a monk. I was training with the Sports Authority of India and Ganguly Prasad was my coach there. I just spent hours meditating, performing, thinking I was going to win an Olympic medal. Even if you gave me another chance today, I don’t think I could prepare or work harder than I did that day. Unfortunately, I lost out early in the Olympics because after three knee surgeries—1994, ’96, and ’97—my body was just not the same. It wasn’t built to withstand long, strenuous play on Sydney’s concrete floors. After three sets against Vladislav Druchenko, my body ran out of energy. My whole body was swollen and my knees were as swollen as golf balls. After the Olympics failed, things were very sad. I was like a zombie not knowing what to do but somehow making myself work hard without any expectations. With this mentality, I participated in the 2001 All England Championships. We departed from Bangalore on Saturday but on the way to the airport we heard that our visas were not finalized and we would have to come back on Monday.We took a detour to collect our visas in Delhi.We then had a long trip from Delhi to Bandar Bandar Abbas in Iran, Frankfurt and Birmingham – we departed on Monday morning and arrived on Tuesday evening. In those days, the All England draw was 64 players (now 32) and we still played on concrete. We have two games on the first day, two games on Wednesday and two games on the second day. Even though I won both games, I was still under a lot of pressure. Fifteen points is a tiring format, and the concrete floors didn’t help my career. We don’t have a physiotherapist or nutrition specialist. The food I had at the same restaurant throughout the week was roti, dal palak and chicken. After the game, I would lie on the ice in the physiotherapy room at the stadium and then go back to my room.The competition took a toll on my body and although my body was swollen a lot, I still managed to win. The biggest comfort after winning the championship is that I don’t have to go through pain anymore. To be able to come back from the game and plan the game, I think it’s just pure grace from God. I am fortunate to have great support from Dr. Ashok Rajagopal and his team consisting of Mr. Ganguly Prasad and Mr. Le Roy D’Sa.(As told by Mani Ratnakar)
